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Trespassers William to trespass no more

Frank Yang — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:23:30 +0000

trespasserswilliam.comThe new year is traditionally held as a time for fresh starts and new beginnings, but it can also be a symbolic time for drawing things to an end or perhaps more appropriately, wrapping up something to begin something else. Not that that was the only reason it wasn’t a complete surprise when Seattle duo Trespassers William took to Facebook this week to announce that the band would be shelved for the foreseeable future.

Despite completely winning me over with their second album Different Stars – one of my favourites of the decade – their gorgeously sad and languid dreampop led by Anna-Lynne Williams voice and slide guitar never really seemed to catch on beyond a devoted audience to whom the sound of melancholy captured at 100 frames per second and replayed in exquisitely detailed slow-motion was the best thing ever. Even so and despite seemingly endless lineup changes – Williams and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Matt Brown were the only constants – they carried on for a decade and a half and are now moving onto other things. Williams records solo as Lotte Kestner and is half of Ormonde, while Brown performs as Disinterested; Trespassers William may now be silent, but the voices that comprised it are not.

Similarly, while we’ll not be getting the follow-up to 2006′s Having that was promised for this year, that won’t be the final word from the band. In 2009, the released the European EP The Natural Order Of Things and at the start of last year, digitally released a compilation b-sides and to coincide with the announcement of the hiatus, have cleared the vaults with another digital release in New Songs & Outtakes, consisting of a couple of new songs that had been targeted for the fourth record and other goodies.

I’m sad that they never managed to put together a North American tour that brought them to Toronto, but am glad I was able to catch them at SXSW in 2008 and again in 2010, and to have had the fortune of living with their music for so long.

Update: Again, via Facebook, the band have announced that their b-sides/unreleased material currently available via Bandcamp will be getting a proper physical release. Details to come, but the digital sales will be ending this weekend.

MP3: Trespassers William – “Lie In The Sound”
MP3: Trespassers William – “Vapour Trail”
MP3: Lotte Kestner – “Crush The Bird”

Iron & Wine have released a new video from last year’s Kiss Each Other Clean.

Video: Iron & Wine – “Godless Brother In Love”

At The Paris Review, Dean Wareham keeps a tour diary about taking the “Plays Galaxie 500″ shows to Japan.

Independent Weekly talks to Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers.

Nicole Atkins plays a video session for The Huffington Post.

Cursive, accompanied by Cymbals Eat Guitars, will be in at The Horseshoe on March 31. Tickets are $16.50 in advance. Cursive’s new album I Am Gemini comes out on February 7; Cymbals Eat Guitars released Lenses Alien last year.

MP3: Cursive – “The Sun & Moon”
MP3: Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)”
MP3: Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Definite Darkness”

The Huffington Post profiles and interviews Warpaint.

And another Yo La Tengo Hannukah show is up over at NYC Taper; that’s five of them now.

Pitchfork bears bad news for those who thought the new Sleigh Bells album Reign Of Terror would be the perfect Valentine’s Day soundtrack; it has been pushed back a week from February 14 to the 21st.

St. Vincent and Cold Specks at The Phoenix in Toronto

Frank Yang — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:33:26 +0000

Frank YangIn discussing the latest St. Vincent album Strange Mercy, I mentioned that Annie Clark’s greatest strength as a songwriter was her creative restlessness; a trait which has over the course of her relatively short career already taken her to more interesting places than some artists even conceive of visiting. If we turn our attention to her live show, that title of “most appropriate single adjective” would probably have to be “control”.

Just as she has a very specific idea of how her compositions should sound on record, she hits the road with a very specific idea of how they should be presented on stage, such that each time I’ve seen her its been not only with a different set of musicians, but a different configuration of instruments and sounds. Not that you need much more than Clark, her voice and her guitar to spellbind; that’s all she brought on her first visit back in February 2007 before her debut Marry Me was released and it was far more memorable than Midlake’s headlining set. Her last time through Toronto in August 2009, the more complex orchestration of Actor necessitated a multi-instrumentalist, multi-tasking five-piece St. Vincent. So who and what would they be for the leaner and more snarling Strange Mercy?

First, opening up were Cold Specks who had to make waves in Europe with her debut 7″ release before getting some attention back home; though Cold Specks is now based in London, Al Spx originally hails from the borough of Etobicoke. Performing seated as a two-piece with an accompanying guitarist/vocalist, Cold Specks tried to win over the packed, talkative room without a lot of success. Her meditative gospel-folk songs and their low-key deliver was designed more to haunt than command, and this wasn’t really the environment for that approach to succeed. Those of us up front were able to appreciate its subtleties and the way the weight of the material built slowly as the set progressed, but even from in close it was very gradual. Getting the opportunity to make her debut on a big stage like this may have been an impressive achievement, but Cold Specks is probably better suited to smaller rooms and more attentive audiences for now.

St. Vincent, on the other hand, has well and properly graduated to rooms of this size. Backed by a drummer manning a kit the size of which seemed physically impossible for an individual to manage and two keyboard/synth players, Annie Clark delivered a set that was configured for and leaned heavily on Strange Mercy – no horns or second effected vocal mic this time – only dipping slightly into Actor and not even acknowledging Marry Me until the finale of the show. The new material was delivered with gusto, Clark shifting from siren to shredder with the shake of her head and unleashing the squalling guitar breaks that so happily punctuate the record, unleashing chaos but in a totally precise manner (though having the strobe lights continually synched with the solos seemed a bit on the nose over the course of the night). The intensity of her performance was an interesting counterpoint to her poise between songs, where she would graciously acknowledge the shouts of, “we love you!” and “you’re so pretty!” from the audience while tuning or offer up some charming anecdote to make everyone fall in love with her just a little bit more.

This isn’t to suggest that it was an operation of military precision; “Dilettante” took three tries to get right, with Clark having to stop herself twice on account of forgetting the lyrics though she made the exercise of soliciting cues from the audience one of the most endearing moments of the night. It was with the late-set cover of The Pop Group’s “She Is Beyond Good & Evil” – rendered far more aggressively than any of her own material – that the show seemed to allow more anarchy to seep in. Shortly thereafter, Clark appeared to break the theremin during its solo on “Northern Lights” and though the encore opened with a lovely keyboard-vocal arrangement of “The Party”, it closed with a riff-heavy, almost metal-derived version of “Your Lips Are Red” which saw Clark turn an edge-of-stage guitar solo into an impromptu crowd surf – while sustaining both the soloing and her perfect posture – before getting back on stage and basically attacking her roadie with her guitar (in what I presume was a playful manner). It was a fantastic finale to an impressive show and showed that maybe the best thing about Annie Clark’s being in control is her ability to lose it.

NOW, The National Post, and The Globe & Mail also have reviews of the show while The Grid has a quick interview. The Toronto Star has a profile of Cold Specks.

Photos: St. Vincent, Cold Specks @ The Phoenix – December 15, 2011
MP3: St. Vincent – “Surgeon”
MP3: St. Vincent – “Actor Out Of Work”
MP3: St. Vincent – “The Strangers”
MP3: St. Vincent – “Now Now”
Stream: Cold Specks – “Holland”
Video: St. Vincent – “Cruel”
Video: St. Vincent – “Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood”
Video: St. Vincent – “Actor Out Of Work”
Video: St. Vincent – “Jesus Saves I Spend”

NYC Taper has got one of The National’s homecoming High Violet finale shows available to download, including the two new songs – “Rylan” and “I Need My Girl” – that the band has been premiering on this tour.

Also at NYC Taper – My Morning Jacket’s Madison Square Garden show from last week.

Rolling Stone has premiered the new video from Nicole Atkins’ Mondo Amore.

Video: Nicole Atkins – “Hotel Plaster”

Exclaim reports that Cat Power will be releasing some new material in the form of a charity single on Christmas Eve. Details are still forthcoming but it’s confirmation that Chan Marshall has been doing stuff. Musical stuff.

That new Guided By Voices album, Let’s Go Eat The Factory? NPR has got that up to stream, two weeks before its January 1 digital release and a full month before its January 17 physical release.

Stream: Guided By Voices – “Let’s Go Eat The Factory”

Their visit in the Fall a casualty of the cancelled Vaccines tour, Tennis have made a date at The Horseshoe for February 29, just a couple weeks after their second album Young And Old is released on February 14.

MP3: Tennis – “Civic Halo”
MP3: Tennis – “Self-Seal Mishap”
Video: Tennis – “Deep In The Woods”

Youth Lagoon will bring his much year-ended debut album The Year Of Hibernation to Lee’s Palace on March 31. Blare has an interview.

MP3: Youth Lagoon – “July”

Memphis country-punk stalwarts Lucero are back at Lee’s Palace on April 14. Their new album Women & Work will be out in the Spring, presumably in time to sell at these shows.

Video: Lucero – “What Are You Willing To Lose?”

Spin has got the new Sleigh Bells single available to stream. Reign Of Terror is out February 14.

Stream: Sleigh Bells – “Born To Lose”

Paste has posted a video session with Centro-Matic.

Nicole Atkins at The Drake Underground in Toronto

Frank Yang — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:25:47 +0000

Frank YangA little into her show at The Drake Underground on Saturday evening, Nicole Atkins mentioned that this was her first-ever solo show in Canada, and that performances of this format were usually reserved for more casual one-off performances back home in New Jersey during the holidays. Indeed, though Ms Atkins has been no stranger to Toronto stages since releasing her debut Neptune City back in 2007, she’s always been accompanied by some iteration of her band The (Black) Sea. I’d have to go back to SXSW 2007 to recall the last time I saw her in a stripped-down acoustic format (also the very first time overall), and even then she was backed by a hastily-recruited drummer and second guitarist because The Sea had gotten lost en route.

The call for backing players is a reasonable one as both her records – Neptune City and this year’s Mondo Amore – are pretty produced affairs, but it’s key to remember at her core Atkins is a folk/blues-rooted singer-songwriter and has had more than her share of experience performing with just her guitar, voice and songs. That’s all she brought with her on this evening and it was more than enough. Well, those and some hilarious anecdotes; for serious, the evening could have just been her sitting there – no guitar – and telling stories and it would have been worth the price of admission. But yes, she sang too.

Brassy set opener “Maybe Tonight” set the tone for the night, which is to say it wouldn’t be a quiet, navel-gazey affair. She promised that the set would mostly be country versions of her songs – and indeed, “Cry Cry Cry” was extra honky-tonky-ish – but most songs retained their basic stylistic personalities and there were a fair number of what she called the “sad bastard” songs, but even those were delivered with energy and conviction thanks to her room-filling voice. The set was all over the place as far as where it drew from, covering both albums, the rarely-heard title track of her debut Bleeding Diamonds EP, a new song entitled “Call Me The Witch”, and covers of Leadbelly, Benji Hughes and Cotton Mather (about whom she spilled the beans regarding an upcoming reunion at SXSW). After complimenting the audience on how quiet and attentive they were all night, she invited all to join in on “The Way It Is” and for the show closer and in what’s becoming a bit of a Drake tradition, came offstage to play “Neptune City” in the audience with everyone singing along.

Make no mistake, I loved both the widescreen, ornate presentation of Neptune City and the rawer, rockier Mondo Amore but if for her third record Nicole Atkins decides to peel things back to little more than what we saw on Saturday night, I’ve no doubt it’d be just as sublime.

Hater High was also in attendance and has the whole show recorded and available to download; it all sounds great but the banter prior to “Hotel Plaster” is especially worth hearing. The Free Lance-Star also has an interview.

Photos: Nicole Atkins @ The Drake Underground – December 3, 2011
MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”
MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vitamin C”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “Maybe Tonight”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “The Way It Is”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “Neptune City”

The Quietus talks to Janet Weiss of Wild Flag.

NPR has a Tiny Desk Concert with tUnE-yArDs.

The Quietus interviews both Erika Anderson of EMA and Nika Roza Danilova of Zola Jesus.

Kind of an odd bill, but together The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys get to cross “go on an arena tour of North America” off their to-do lists. They’re at the Air Canada Centre on March 14 – presale goes December 6 at 10AM, public onsale on December 9. The Black Keys’ new album El Camino is out Tuesday.

Video: The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Suck It And See”

Austin 360 talks to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.

The second Archers Of Loaf reissue – Vee Vee – has an official release date of February 21, and The AV Club has all the salient info. And they’ve also got Eric Bachmann doing a
One Track Mind performance and interview for “Web In Front”. Meanwhile, Bachmann puts his Crooked Fingers hat on to chat with Creative Loafing and The Phoenix New Times.

MP3: Archers Of Loaf – “Harnessed In Slums”

The first official single from Guided By Voices’ reunion record Let’s Go Eat The Factory is now available to download, all 1:44 of it. It will probably take you longer to read this interview with Bob Pollard at The AV Club than to listen to the song.

MP3: Guided By Voices – “Doughtnut For A Snowman”

Loud & Quiet interviews Ryan Adams, in town at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 10.

Blurt talks to Britta Phillips of Dean & Britta about being the voice of Jem (of Jem & The Holograms) back in the ’80s while Listgeeks chats with both her and Dean Wareham. And over at Captain’s Dead, they’ve got a downloadable recording of the “Plays Galaxie 500″ set they did at Primavera in Barcelona back in May.

The Daily Beast talks to Michael Stipe and Mike Mills about the end of R.E.M..

Charles Bradley has released a new MP3 from No Time For Dreaming. He and his Extraordinaires are at Lee’s Palace on February 11.

MP3: Charles Bradley – “Heartaches & Pain”

Wye Oak stops in by Berlin Sessions for a video session. They open up for The National at The Air Canada Centre on Thursday night.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Dum Dum Girls.

Spin points out that Sleigh Bells’ website has been highjacked by a trailer for what is presumed to be their new album. It’s called Reign of Terror and it’ll be out when it’s out.

CONTEST – Nicole Atkins @ The Drake Underground – December 3, 2011

Frank Yang — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:56:40 +0000

Frank YangWho: Nicole Atkins
What: Jersey girl singer-songwriter who released her terrific second album (and second terrific album) Mondo Amore back in January
Why: Though the toured through in support of the record with her band The Black Sea back in February, she’s doing an intimate solo tour to close out the year.
When: Saturday, December 3, 2011
Where: The Drake Underground in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Local singer-songwriter Megan Bonnell opens things up.
How: Tickets for the show are $15 in advance but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Nicole Atkins” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, December 1.
What else: Nicole just released a holiday single cover of “Little Drummer Boy” and her free live EP …’Til Dawn is still available to download.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”
Video: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

Review of St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy

Frank Yang — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:32:07 +0000

Tina TyrellIt’s saying something when Annie Clark’s looks rank a ways down the list of things she has going for her as St. Vincent. If we’re keeping score, then you’d have to put her angelic, crystalline coo of a voice and virtuosic, elliptical guitar skills right at the top (though which of the two should come first is grist for hours of debate). And of course neither would be anything without her songwriting acumen, which nimbly treads the terrain between odd and accessible, between abstract and evocative.

But underpinning all of that, and what I’d put forward as her most important quality, is her restlessness, as showcased in fine form on her third album Strange Mercy. That constant desire – or maybe compulsion – to fill her work with idiosyncratic touches that range from quirky accents – such as the adorable vocal hiccups in opener “Chloe In The Afternoon” – to dissonent, square-waved guitar breaks, also in the same song. One can’t help wonder about her process, and whether she writes the pretty first and then deliberately takes it off-road, or if that’s simply intuits both halves as necessary parts of the whole. Was the wonderfully random and unabashedly ’70s prog guitar/synth line that closes out “Surgeon” a result of Clark stepping back and thinking, “you know what would be interesting here?” or more, “of course that’s the outro. Duh”.

Compared to the ambitiously orchestrated Actor, Mercy is more of a guitar-heavy affair, with the contrast between Clark’s sumptuous voice and her favoured abrasive guitar tones played up throughout. Some find Clark’s penchant for abruptly shifting gears or marrying brutality with beauty if just to see what happens off-putting, but that unpredictability is rather key to the experience. Like its predecessors, it’s a touch more cerebral and considered than I might like, but the way Clark is able to sound confessional and emotionally bare without sometimes seeming to reveal anything at all and always maintaining a distance is, I suppose, perfectly in keeping with the duality of St. Vincent. And whether you genuinely love what she does or are just fascinated by it, you can’t help coming back.

The Guardian, Interview, Consequence Of Sound and The Village Voice have feature interviews with Clark, while 4AD Sessions and The AV Club have videos of some in-studio live performances and NPR is streaming her show in DC from earlier this week. She is at The Phoenix on December 15.

MP3: St. Vincent – “Surgeon”
Video: St. Vincent – “Cruel”

After bringing The Black Sea along with her in February to support Mondo Amore, Nicole Atkins returns for a solo show at The Drake Underground on December 3 – tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

The Kills are also planning a return engagement as part of a Winter tour in support of their latest Blood Pressures, setting a date at The Kool Haus for February 7 of next year. Tickets $26.50 in advance. They’ve also released a new video from said record.

MP3: The Kills – “DNA”
Video: The Kills – “Baby Says”

After trickling out streams of most of the songs from their Long Live The King EP – another went up at The Huffington Post earlier this week – The Decemberists are streaming the whole thing at Spinner.

Stream: The Decemberists – “Sonnet”
Stream: The Decemberists / Long Live The King

Hey, you know that 24-hour Flaming Lips song? No? Well they recorded one, it’s called “7 Skies H3″ and it’s streaming at flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com. And it’s also available for sale encased in one of 13 real human skulls for the reasonable price of $5000. Pitchfork has details and Flaming Lips completists have my sympathy.

The Columbia Free Times talks to Ted Leo.

Doug Martsch of Built To Spill updates Rolling Stone on the status of their next album. Which is not to say anyone should expect it soon, but it is – you know – coming.

Pitchfork reports that The Antlers will release a new EP entitled (together), comprised of some remixes, collaborative reinterpretations of songs and an XX cover. It’s out November 22.

It’s certainly not a reunion or a new album – I hold no hopes of either of those things ever happening – but there’s a bit of Luna news to report. Their last two albums and EP – which had the misfortune of coming out on fly-by-night labels – have been digitally reissued with a handful of bonus tracks added on. Details and an opportunity to grab a cover of Kraftwerk’s “Neon Lights”, taken from the Close Cover Before Striking EP, can be had at Full Of Wishes – yeah you have to give your email address for the download, but how much mail do you really expect to get from a band that’s been defunct for six years? There’s interviews with Dean Wareham at Polaroids For Androids and 130BPM.

The first official single from the new Guided By Voices album Let’s All Eat The Factory is now available to stream and will be available on 7″ come November 28. All 1:44 of it. The album is out January 1.

Stream: Guided By Voices – “Doughtnut For A Snowman”

Caithlin de Marrais – the former voice of Rainer Maria – will release her solo debut Red Coats on Tuesday and in advance, Magnet is streaming the whole thing.

MP3: Caithlin de Marrais – “Belong”
Video: Caithlin de Marrais – “Birds”
Stream: Caithlin de Marrais / Red Coats

Mates Of State have released a new video from their latest, Mountaintops, and Playback has an interview with the Jason Hammel half of the duo.

Video: Mates Of State – “Sway”

Exclaim reports that Brassland Records is celebrating their tenth anniversary with gifts – in the form of a free song a day, one of which is this early demo by The National. To get at the downloads, engage the label in some social media love via Facebook or Twitter – details over here.

Stream: The National – “High Beams” (demo)

Explosions In The Sky and Wye Oak at The Sound Academy in Toronto

Frank Yang — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:41:23 +0000

Frank YangI’m sure they didn’t intend to be away for so long – it wasn’t their fault that the 2009 edition of the Toronto Islands show for which they were the undercard was cancelled – but as of Friday night’s long-awaited show at the Sound Academy., it had been over four years since Explosions In The Sky last played Toronto and you could round up closer to five if you’re talking headlining shows. A long time for any active, touring band but an eternity for an act whose fanbase grew markedly in the years between 2007′s All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone and this year’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care through key soundtrack placements and old fashioned word of mouth about how astonishing their cinematic, instrumental post-rock was.

Baltimore duo Wye Oak have been no such strangers hereabouts, their supporting slot marking their third show in Town this calendar year with one still to come. This was less a case of market oversaturation than simply keeping up with demand, though; specifically the demand of larger acts who wanted them to open up for them. And when the likes of The Decemberists, Explosions and The National ask you to come along on tour with them, you say yes. Since playing this same stage in February opening up for The Decemberists, Wye Oak had released their second album Civilian and toured it heavily, so even just eight months later there were noticeable differences in the band’s live show. The moodier Civilian must call for a leaner approach to things, as Jenn Wasner took fewer guitar excursions and Andy Stack seemed to be called on less to handle keyboard duties simultaneously with drums. It was as though the two were feeling more confident in their ability render the songs with just the guitars, drums and vocals, and when the keys were brought in, such as for some gut-punch bass, their contributions were extra-effective. In any case, it was mope-rock on a grand scale.

One of the most magical things about Explosions In The Sky, either live or on record, is how from the moment they begin to play you’re instantly transported to a world writ on 70mm film but left wide open. There is a universality to their music that allows it to be the soundtrack to the movie of each listener’s life, for them to write their own script and direct their own scenes, using the emotions and dynamics created by the band as cues. So I suspect that the people sitting, eyes closed, out of line of sight of the band were getting just as much out of the performance as the people jammed up front watching them actually play – or at least I’d like to think so; it’s possible they were just asleep.

It’s this intangible that allows them to transcend their formula and continue to connect and be remarkable. Their sound hasn’t really changed much since 2000′s How Strange, Innocence – they’re more adept at the push and pull of evoking emotional responses but any stylistic shifts over their career have been relative to the EITS aesthetic – they’ve never redefined, only refined. So even though Friday’s show pulled from their entire decade-plus repertoire, with a little extra emphasis on Take Care, it felt like a single, unified feature-length piece with gentle lulls and soaring crescendos in all the right places. One major difference from their last time through was for touring, they’d expanded to a five-piece with a full-time bassist which allowed for an even bigger sound with either a three guitar-attack or double-guitar, double-bass, all the sounding even more massive without losing any of the intricacies of their arrangements. As the final notes of “The Moon Is Down” rang out and the band bid farewell, hopefully without as long a wait between visits, I wanted to tell those gathered at the front pleading for an encore that the band doesn’t do encores, and if they wanted more they’d have to wait for the sequel.

The Toronto Star alos has a review of the show while aux.tv and The Detroit News have interviews with Explosions.

Chicago post-rock instrumentalist Russian Circles will be at Lee’s Palace on November 12 in support of their new record Empros, due out October 25.

MP3: Russian Circles – “Mladek”

Nicole Atkins is giving away a free live EP entitled …Til Dawn over at her Bandcamp in exchange for an email address.

The Georgia Straight talks to Kristen Gundred – aka Dee Dee – of Dum Dum Girls. They’re at Lee’s Palace next Sunday night, October 16.

NPR is streaming the new My Brightest Diamond record All Things Will Unwind in advance of its release next week. There’s also a new video at Stereogum and some live video performances posted at Le Blogotheque.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Reaching Through To The Other Side”
Video: My Brightest Diamond – “Be Brave”
Stream: My Brightest Diamond / All Things Will Unwind

Beatroute talks to Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

DIY interviews Wild Flag, in town to melt your faces at Lee’s Palace tonight.

NPR is streaming Days, the new album from Real Estate, out next week.

MP3: Real Estate – “It’s Real”
Stream: Real Estate / Days

Clash, The National Post, DIY, Drowned In Sound and The Los Angeles Times all have interviews with Ryan Adams about his new record Ashes & Fire and Exclaim has a list of RyRy trivia, but only LA Weekly manages to piss him off. Bravo. He plays The Winter Garden Theatre on December 10 and has released a live studio video and proper “if MTV still played videos” video from the new album.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”
Video: Ryan Adams – “Invisible Riverside”

The Vancouver Sun and The Republic interview Stephen Malkmus.

Blurt interviews Matthew Sweet.

DIY talks to Girls.

The New York Daily News chats with Mates Of State.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with EMA.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of The Antlers’ show in New York last week.

Review of Crooked Fingers’ Breaks In The Armor

Frank Yang — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:32:36 +0000

Justin EvansAfter a prolific career of twenty years, an artist can be forgiven for choosing to settle into some manner of creative comfort zone or perhaps repeating themselves. And while Eric Bachmann isn’t necessarily continuing to break new artistic ground, he’s covered enough terrain over the years that even revisiting past efforts remains a wonderfully unpredictable exercise.

Reach back to Archers Of Loaf for some ragged and jagged proto-indie rock, early Crooked Fingers or his solo work for stark yet rich folk-rooted singer-songwriter fare, later Crooked Fingers for gorgeous Spanish-inflected rock or polarizing studio experimentation. He hasn’t revisited the instrumental sound-sculpting of the Barry Black project but give him time. But not right now as he’s got more balls in the air now than perhaps he ever has, simultaneously looking back with a much-heralded Archers reunion and album reissue series and forwards with a new Crooked Fingers album – Breaks In The Armor – out next Tuesday.

Toronto was treated to a preview of the latest incarnation of Crooked Fingers when Bachmann stopped by while shepherding Archers gear between cities in July and, given that they were just a two-piece consisting of himself and Liz Durrett, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that Armor would be a stripped-down affair and a hard turn from the unfairly panned Forfeit/Fortune. And if that were the case, it’d have been fine – few do stripped down as affectingly as Bachmann – but Armor is a surprisingly fleshed-out record that sounds less like it’s revisiting past records than pulling inspiration from all of them simultaneously.

If you had to choose one reference point in the Bachmann oeuvre, Armor would be most reminiscent of Red Devil Dawn, which marked the transition of Crooked Fingers as pseudonym for a mostly-solo act to a full band project but rather than sounding at all transitional, it sounds arguably like the most representative Crooked Fingers record yet. Drum machines keep time on the simpler numbers, as on opener “Typhoon”, but when live rhythm is needed to allow a song like “The Counterfeiter” to really soar, the drums are there. And that little atonal guitar skronk that opens “Bad Blood”? Little bit of Archers right there, I’d say.

Bachmann has consistently flown under the radar of popular acclaim and finally seems to be receiving his critical (and commercial) due thanks to the Archers Of Loaf reunion, but one hopes that it doesn’t overshadow the fact that he’s still putting out excellent new music. Someday, Eric Bachmann will be properly recognized as being one of the great American songwriters of the last twenty years and Breaks In The Armor will be another strong argument why. I won’t go so far as to say that’s the best Crooked Fingers record to date – there is a place in my heart from which Dignity & Shame will never be dislodged – but it’s certainly one of the strongest and most consistently satisfying.

Spin talks to Bachmann about making the new record following a sabbatical from music to teach English in Taiwan and is also offering a stream of the whole thing while The AV Club has a video performance of “Your Apocalypse” filmed on a Chicago rooftop. Their Fall tour in support of the record kicks off later this month and hits The Drake Underground in Toronto on November 8.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Typhoon”
Stream: Crooked Fingers / Breaks In The Armor

Filter makes an argument for Bachmann’s greatness via his Archers Of Loaf work. And did anyone see Archer last week? “Archers Of Loaf-crosse”? Eh? EH? What do you mean you don’t watch Archer what the hell is wrong with you.

California’s High Places have announced a date at The Garrison on November 14 in support of their new record Original Colors, out Tuesday. Tickets are $11.50 in advance. Eater has an interview with the duo about, well, eating.

MP3: High Places – “On Giving Up”
Video: High Places – “Altos Lugares”

Brooklyners White Rabbits have been pretty quiet since the success of 2009′s It’s Frightening. But there are signs they’re getting ready to release something new – such as their scheduling a date at The Horseshoe for November 30, tickets $15.

MP3: White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”

I’m not sure what is more confounding – the people getting worked up about Lana del Rey or the people getting worked up about the people getting worked up about her. But she of the enormous hype, controversial backstory, contentious lips and just-okay-but-hardly-spectacular two songs is bringing her show to Toronto’s Mod Club on November 30, tickets $12.50 and on sale at 10AM Friday. For a taste of the buzz, check out the interviews with her at The Quietus, The State, GQ, New York Magazine and Pitchfork (who also have a think piece about her divisiveness) and to let the music (and visuals) speak for themselves, her entire recorded output in video form.

Video: Lana del Rey – “Video Games”
Video: Lana del Rey – “Blue Jeans”

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – who know a thing or two about both edges of the hype machine – are hoping you call their third album Hysterical a comeback and go see them when they play The Opera House on December 9. That one will cost you $20.50 in advance.

MP3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – “Same Mistake”

The director of the video for St. Vincent’s “Cruel” talks to Pitchfork about the making of the clip.

The AV Club chats with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.

The Sun has an extensive interview and Exclaim a short one with Ryan Adams, whose new record Ashes & Fire is out on Tuesday. The Alternate Side also has an interview as well as a session. Adams is at The Winter Garden Theatre on December 10.

eMusic has posted the results of their Twitter-powered interview with Mates Of State, The Baltimore Sun publishes the results of a stock questionnaire and The Charlotte Observer settles for a simple conversation.

NYC Taper has posted a recording of Nicole Atkins’ recent set at Webster Hall in New York, and if you stop by her website on October 6, she tweets that there’ll be a free live EP to be had.

NPR has posted a WFUV session with Beirut.

And finally, rest in peace, Bert Jansch.

Review of Papercuts’ Fading Parade

Frank Yang — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:34:39 +0000

Chloe AftelWhilst at the closing sale for the now dearly departed Criminal Records this past weekend, I found amongst the remaining stock a copy of Papercuts’ latest LP Fading Parade. Already having the CD, I suggested a friend pick it up and when asked, not unreasonably, what it sounded like, I was at a loss and don’t think I came up with anything more articulate than, “it’s good” – hey, I don’t always think fast on my feet. Unsurprisingly, the sales pitch failed but happily, the album found a good home not long afterwards with another acquaintance. Having had a little more time to think on it though, I’d like to take another shot at the “what’s it sound like?” inquiry.

Papercuts were an unknown to me before Fading Parade, which is their fourth album but their Sub Pop debut so score one for the benefits of bigger labels. But all you really need to know about them is that a) they’re from San Francisco and b) they is essentially a he – one Jason Robert Quever – and his lovely and gentle pillow of a voice. Actually that’s too reductive. As central as Quevers’ breathy vocals are to the Papercuts sound, also crucial are the wistfully longing melodies he delivers with it and the sonic aesthetic that he surrounds it all with – an aesthetic built on reverbs precisely set so as to cushion all of the intricate instrumental arrangements but not obscure the detail and delicacy of it all.

Clearly atmosphere matters, but I still don’t quite get all the shoegaze namedrops that pop up in their press – if you were looking for English DNA in their sound, it’d look more Sarah Records than anything else. But if forced to come up with a single reference point, I’d probably go with The Shins, albeit less folksy and more elegantly baroque. Which now that I think about it, isn’t very Shins-y at all. Okay, how about this – Papercuts’ Fading Parade? It’s good.

The Line Of Best Fit welcomed Quever to their studio for an acoustic video session.

MP3: Papercuts – “Do You Really Wanna Know”
MP3: Papercuts – “Do What You Will”
Video: Papercuts – “Do You Really Wanna Know”
Video: Papercuts – “Do What You Will”

Dazed has an interview with Antlers while Wears The Trousers points to a studio video of the band performing “Hounds” with Nicole Atkins guesting on vocals.

Epitonic and Spectrum Culture talk to Erika Anderson of EMA.

Check out a track from Wild Flag’s forthcoming self-titled debut, due out September 13. They play Lee’s Palace on October 11.

MP3: Wild Flag – “Romance”

A new track from tUnE-yArDs’ WHOKILL is up for grabs and there’s also a KCRW session over at NPR. They play Lee’s Palace on September 24.

MP3: tUnE-yArDs – “Powa”

Head over to Soundcloud to hear a three-track sampler of the new Ivy record All Hours, due out September 20.

The Mountain Goats have released a new video from All Eternals Deck.

Video: The Mountain Goats – “Real Estate Sign”

MPR has an interview with Fleet Foxes.

Exclaim talks to Eric Bachmann about the Archers Of Loaf reunion.

Bob Mould talks memoirs with eMusic.

Stereogum has marked the 10th anniversary of The Strokes’ debut album Is This It by compiling Stroked, a tribute album to said record with contributions from the likes of Peter Bjorn & John, Owen Pallett and The Morning Benders, amongst others.

Their fire sale over and done with, Bruce Peninsula have finally come clean with details on their second album – Open Flames will be out on October 4, and will follow it with a Fall tour that includes a hometown show at Lee’s Palace on October 27. And if you don’t want to wait that long to see them and hear the new stuff – and why would you – remember they’re playing the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 11 as part of Summerworks.

MP3: Bruce Peninsula – “Light Flight”

Playing that same stage and festival on August 6 are Hooded Fang, who’ve marked the release of their second album Tosta Mista this week by talking to aux.tv and Exclaim and streaming the whole album online.

Stream: Hooded Fang / Tosta Mista

My Morning Jacket at The Kool Haus in Toronto

Frank Yang — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:23:14 +0000

Frank YangI suspect my personal history with My Morning Jacket reads like many others’; discovered them circa At Dawn, was rocked by It Still Moves, had my mind blown by Z and was confounded by Evil Urges. I haven’t spent enough time with their latest Circuital yet to know how that chapter will play out, but while I bemoan the absence of even a token all-out rocker, it does feel as advertised – a return to their roots, even if they’ve brought many of the creative and musical souvenirs picked up along the trip so far with them.

Not that a final judgement on their latest effort was necessary to decide to catch their long-awaited return to Toronto – the Kentucky quintet were a fearsome live act since the first time I saw them way back in 2003 and in the years since they’ve graduated to major festival headliner status, become more creatively fearless and simply become one of the most interesting rock bands going, all without forgetting about the simple joy of bearing down and riffing the fuck out. My excuse for missing their last visit in June 2008 was seeing them a few months earlier at a Beautiful Noise taping, but all that really meant was that it was almost six years on from the last time I saw them play a proper Toronto show. Far too long.

Still, they were the ones apologizing a little ways into Monday night’s show at the Kool Haus, with frontman Jim James saying they’d wanted to come back sooner but simply hadn’t been able to. Maybe that’s why they made the rare move of dispensing with an opening act and treating us to an extended-length set, even by their standards. The show kicked off with “Victory Dance”, the lead song from Circuital, and James stalking the stage and waving his arms about like some carnival barker/madman and pretty much didn’t stop for the next two and a half hours. There’s a temptation to regard My Morning Jacket as a jam band – and for certain, they’re not averse to stretching their songs out to epic length – but that’s too reductive; the degree of physicality and theatricality that they put into their shows is as crucial to the experience as the many notes that they play. My Morning Jacket aren’t just there to play, they’re there to perform.

The epic-length show did an admirable job of representing not only the breadth of their catalog but all the stylistic facets of My Morning Jacket; no mean feat for a band that straddles so many genres and puts its own unique spin on each and every one. Barnburners like “Gideon” and “Anytime” showcased them at their hair-whipping, guitar-soloing finest while slowing down without going small on “Golden”, “Phone Went West” and “Movin’ Away”, the last of which incited not a few incidences of slow-dancing in the audience; be it slow jams or psychotic reactions, everyone was along for every step of the ride. Watching the show crest, ebb and crest again, I was struck by how even though some of their albums might be regarded as less than successful creative forays (Evil Urges I’m looking in your direction), when regarded in the context of entire the My Morning Jacket songbook, they make much more sense. The initial expeditions into uncharted terrain might be bumpy, but once that territory is charted they’ve that much more raw material to work with. You won’t find many bands capable of balancing such a clear musical identity with artistic restlessness.

These are all thoughts that crossed my mind over the course of the show, frequently punctuated with variants of, “holy shit these guys just keep going”. There was the equivalent of two of three sets from other bands in there, but when they loaded up for the monolithic “Run Thru”, you got the sense that they were moving into the final act and indeed, following a sprawling “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream”, it was up to “Mahgeetah” to close out the set in grand and extended fashion. The set, but not the show. The encore ran an extra thirty-plus minutes and if you wanted a six-song sampler of what makes My Morning Jacket so wonderfully weird and wonderful, those selections would have done the job. From the haunting “Wordless Chorus” through the psych-soul of “Holdin’ On To Black Metal”, into the ridicu-funk of “Highly Suspicious” and finally appropriately culminating with “One Big Holiday”, it was a long, strange, exhausting and amazing trip.

The National Post and BlogTO were also in attendance. eMusic has an interview with the band, NPR a World Cafe session and Spin is streaming a Muppets cover by the band. Yes they are.

Pitchfork and The Vinyl District get Marissa Nadler to name off some of her favourite things. She plays Supermarket on July 19.

No Depression and The Huffington Post chat with Ari Picker, leader of Lost In The Trees. They play The Drake Underground on July 25.

Having just announced the September 13 release date for their new record Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls have put together a North American tour that stops in at the Mod Club on September 27, tickets $16.50 in advance.

MP3: Girls – “Laura”

Mates Of State have made the first MP3 from their new record Mountaintops available to download and cherish. The record is out September 13 and they’re at The Phoenix on September 28.

MP3: Mates Of State – “Maracas”

The Drums have given their second record a title of Portamento and a release date of September 12 in the UK; stream the first single at Soundcloud.

Evan Dando and whomever he’s calling The Lemonheads right now will give the people what they want and tour It’s A Shame About Ray in its entirety this Fall. Presumably they will pad out the set with material from other records, given that their most popular album clocks in at like 33 minutes including, I believe, their cover of “Mrs Robinson”. I personally think they should flesh out the set with live-action recreations of the videos, but that’s just me. Blurt has details on the tour and full dates, including the October 17 stop at Lee’s Palace in Toronto.

Video: The Lemonheads – “It’s A Shame ABout Ray”

My Brightest Diamond will release a new album in All Things Will Unwind on October 18. Pitchfork has details on the record and a first MP3.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Reaching Through To The Other Side”

Exclaim reports that Craig Finn is working on both a solo record and a new Hold Steady record.

New Superchunk vid from Majesty Shredding!

Video: Superchunk – “Learned To Surf”

Crawdaddy chats with Nicole Atkins.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a recent show from Savoir Adore.

The Kills shows The Guardian how they wrote the song “Baby Says”.

Eric Bachmann is the man of the hour – Spin gets him, in the capacity of Archers Of Loaf frontman, to list off some new music he’s listening to; Icky Mettle gets a deluxe reissue on August 2. It was also announced that the new Crooked Fingers record Breaks In The Armor would be put out on October 11 by Merge (who’re also doing the Archers reissues) and a video trailer released to go with it. And finally, The AV Club gets Crooked Fingers to cover Gershwin’s “Summertime” for their AV Undercover series on a Chicago rooftop.

Pixies drummer David Lovering confesses to Rolling Stone that now that the band have performed Dolittle for everyone on the face of the earth, they may have to write some new material.

Spin is streaming both discs of R.E.M.’s remastered and reissued edition of Lifes Rich Pageant – possibly probably still my favourite of their records – while Rolling Stone reports the band has already begun working on the follow up to this year’s Collapse Into Now.

Stream: R.E.M. / Lifes Rich Pageant Deluxe Edition

Spinner talks to Bob Mould about his memoirs while Spin solicits a playlist.

Crooked Fingers and Megan Bonnell at The Horseshoe in Toronto

Frank Yang — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:16:09 +0000

Frank YangSunday night’s Crooked Fingers show had a number of things going against it. For starters, it was a Sunday night. The Sunday night of a long weekend. The Sunday night of a long weekend during Pride. But what it had going for it was that it was a Crooked Fingers show.

But even for the Eric Bachmann faithful, the show had the stacked against it somewhat for what it wasn’t, and that’s an Archers Of Loaf show. Indeed, only the need to transport gear for the indie rock heroes’ reunion tour from New York to Chicago and the 4th of July long weekend created the opportunity for Bachmann to slip into his post-Archers guise and decompress for a few northeastern dates. And though the existence of a new Crooked Fingers record had been confirmed, October is still ages away and their last proper album Forfeit/Fortune was already three years old. So really, rather than pout that the Archers roadshow wasn’t yet finding its way north of the border, we should have felt fortunate that we were getting a visit at all – particularly since Crooked Fingers’ last two shows were supporting slots for Neko Case and Okkervil River; there was an Eric Bachmann-villed show in 2006 but the last time the words “Crooked Fingers” graced a Toronto sandwich board was over six years ago. Which is to say, far too long.

Opening things up was local singer-songwriter Megan Bonnell, showing off her brand new EP Maps. Performing on keyboard and backed only by a drummer, Bonnell was notable for her ability to invoke cabaret-like dramatics without slipping into easy melodrama and slightly unconventional voice and phrasing. Her set was different enough from what you might expect from a girl-and-piano setup to force you to suspend preconceptions and pay attention and for first impressions, that’s really all you can ask for.

Every time I’ve seen either Crooked Fingers or Eric Bachmann live, it’s been a different configuration of players and instruments from solo to six-piece; this time out, it was just as a duo – Eric Bachmann and Liz Durrett. Accordingly, the show had a stripped-down and intimate vibe, helped along by the fact that there weren’t but even a hundred people in attendance. But instead of being disappointed with the turnout, Bachmann seemed rather cheered by the attentiveness of the audience as he fully explored his extensive songbook. Unsurprisingly, the sparser sounds of the self-titled debut, Bring On The Snakes and Bachmann’s 2006 solo effort To The Races made up the bulk of the set, but the representatives from the more fully-arranged Crooked Fingers records served as set highlights. Though possessed of a softer voice than either Lara Meyerratken or Neko Case, her turns as duet partner to Bachmann’s big, gruff voice on Dignity & Shame‘s “Sleep All Summer” and Forfeit/Fortune‘s “Your Control” – the latter performed unamplified into the club – were stunning.

There was also some new material previewed, though not as much as I might have expected. Considering that the new record was recorded with just Bachmann and Durrett as the principals, what was heard probably wasn’t far off from what we can expect from Breaks In The Armor when it’s released on October 11 and as such, fans of the aesthetic of the early records will probably be pleased. One of the new songs, “Bad Blood”, was introduced as the breakthrough hit and when it brings in the big bank, Bachmann promised to buy everyone in attendance big dogs; I suspect that he was being sarcastic but I do hope it reaches the top of the charts – I want my Great Dane. Other promises made – and more likely to be fulfilled – were to return after the album was released and, most excitingly, to bring Archers Of Loaf to town in the new year sometime around March. As a teaser and as he’s done on past visits, he gave us a stripped-down version of “Web In Front” but if you need something to look forward to for next Spring – well there you go. And in the meantime, there’ll be the memory of this gorgeous and special show to hold us over.

Exclaim also took in the show and has some thoughts. Fairfield Weekly has a talk with Bachmann about how close he came to calling it quits, what he’s been up to the last few years and what the new record will bring and New York Magazine and Spinner talk to him about the return of Archers Of Loaf.

Photos: Crooked Fingers, Megan Bonnell @ The Horseshoe – July 3, 2011
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Phony Revolutions”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Angelina”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Big Darkness”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Devil’s Train”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “When You Were Mine”
MP3: Crooked Fingers – “New Drink For The Old Drunk”
MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Carrboro Woman”
MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior”
MP3: Megan Bonnell – “South Korea”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “Let’s Not Pretend (To Be New Men)”
Video: Crooked Fingers – “New Drink For The Old Drunk”
Video: Eric Bachmann – “Man ‘O War”
Video: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior”
Video: Megan Bonnell – “South Korea”

SCPR talks to The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle about growing up in Los Angeles’ suburban sprawl.

Crawdaddy interviews Old 97′s frontman Rhett Miller. Their new album The Grand Theatre, Vol. 2 is out today.

MP3: Old 97s – “Brown Haired Daughter”

NPR welcomes Steve Earle for a World Cafe session, while American Songwriter, Houston Press and The Vancouver Sun have feature pieces on the singer-songwriter. The Molson Amphitheatre welcomes Steve Earle as opener for Blue Rodeo on August 20.

Laundromatinee has posted a video session with Nicole Atkins, including downloadable MP3. The Courier-Journal has an interview.

Billboard has posted their cover story on The Head & The Heart.

Under The Radar and The Fly have feature pieces on Death Cab For Cutie, in town at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 29.

Of Montreal have released a video from their new EP thecontrollersphere.

Video: Of Montreal – “L’age d’or”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Low.

Dirty Laundry has a video session with EMA, in town at The Garrison on July 23.

Interview interviews Memory Tapes mastermind Dayve Hawk. Player Piano is out now and he/they play Wrongbar on August 13.

State interviews Explosions In The Sky; they’re at the Sound Academy on October 7.